Classical dynamics of the rigid string from the Willmore functional

DOI10.1016/0393-0440(94)00020-5MaRDI QIDQ1891533zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Publication date 13 June 1995

Published in Journal of Geometry and Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/9305121

Applications of differential geometry to physics (53Z05) String and superstring theories; other extended objects (e.g., branes) in quantum field theory (81T30)

Abstract: A new approach for investigating the classical dynamics of the relativistic string model with rigidity is proposed. It is based on the embedding of the string world surface into the space of a constant curvature. It is shown that the rigid string in flat space-time is described by the Euler-Lagrange equation for the Willmore functional in a space-time of the constant curvature K=-g/(2 a), where g and a are constants in front of the Nambu-Goto term and the curvature term in the rigid string action respectively. For simplicity the Euclidean version of the rigid string in the three-dimensional space-time is considered. The Willmore functional (the action for the "Willmore string") is obtained by dropping the Nambu-Goto term in the Polyakov-Kleinert action for the rigid string. Such "reduction" of the rigid string model would be useful, for example, by applying some results about the Numbu-Goto string dynamics in the de Sitter universe to the rigid string model in the Minkowski space-time. It allows also to use numerous mathematical results about the Willmore surfaces in the context of the physical problem.

Review text

The authors show that the rigid string in flat space-time is described by the Euler-Lagrange equation for the Willmore functional in a space-time of constant curvature \(K = -\gamma/(2 \alpha)\) where \(\gamma\) and \(\alpha\) are the coefficients of the Nambu-Goto term and the curvature term in the rigid string action, respectively (the Willmore functional is obtained by setting \(\gamma = 0\) in the rigid string action). The proof is made explicit only for the case where the flat and constant curvature ``space-times are \(E^3\) and \(S^3\), respectively, but various generalizations and results of potential physical interest are hinted at. Moreover, an analogous result for point-particles is also derived.

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